Norfolk County Council Trading Standards urged people to be suspicious of all telephone calls claiming to be from banks, companies or individuals trying to find out more about finances and bank details.

An elderly couple received a telephone call from a man who said he was from customer services at their bank. He told the couple there had been a fraudulent transaction on their card and they needed to get to their bank and transfer several thousand pounds into another holding account.

It was only as they were attempting to transfer the money that bank staff became suspicious and the scam was detected.

Another elderly victim received a call from a man claiming to be dealing with her PPI claim for compensation and that they had a cheque for £40,000. The victim was asked if there was any money in the house and how much cash they had in their account.

The man then tried to persuade the victim to go a local store and buy £440 worth of UKash vouchers and call them back. They would then call with the cheque as well as reimburse the £440.

Ukash vouchers can be bought from many stores and can be used to buy items online by using the unique codes on the voucher.

It is believed had the victim bought the vouchers they would have been persuaded to give the codes via the phone allowing the fraudster to use them.